Dublin stands at a cross-roads. The Mercer Quality of Living report out this week found the capital is now a more attractive place to live than Paris, London and Brisbane. Amazing what a bit of recession will do for a place. And look, we could do with a bit of gloating, so in your face Boston, Milan and Madrid who figured further down the list. But there was another, more interesting fact hidden in the numbers.
Dublin is now regarded as an eco-city. It was ranked 14th in Europe for its environmental friendliness. It even attracted praise for its sewage system. It’s been a long time since Dublin got a thumbs up for the way it dealt with its number twos. When you consider that we’ll never catch up with the blonde crowd who populate the north of Europe – where they probably wash their water – it’s fair to say Dublin is best of the rest. Dirty Old Dublin me arse.
Is this what we really want? The traffic congestion and stinky sewage we’ll do without, but the old bikes and shopping carts in the canal gave the place a bit of character. Move away from that and we’re only going one place. Vienna.
Vienna comes on the top of most of these Best Cities to Live In surveys. That’s fine if by ‘Live In’ you actually mean die very slowly of acute boredom. Anyone who has ever visited Vienna will tell you nothing, because that’s exactly what happened while they were there. It’s the kind of place that appeals to people who like to go to a giant waltz and imagine they are minor aristocrats from Upper Saxony.
That’s not us. Whatever the Irish are, we’re not button-down Europeans. So throw your bike in the canal today, because number one isn’t worth the effort in this beauty contest.